2x400w Radium Enough!?

H

huskysglare1

New member
Will 2x400w Radium in a Lumen Bright pendant be enough to keep SPS?

I have a 175g tank that measures 60x24x30tall. I will only use 2x400w 20k Radium and NO T5 or VHO actinics. Will these two bulbs be enough to keep SPS healthy and colorful?

How high should i have these bulbs above water?

Thanks for the respond guys.
 
will it be colorful? Anyone has pics of MH only tank?

My vho ballast burned out and i am thinking of getting rid of it all together.
 
You'll get good color out of the Radiums. I run the 250w versions and wouldn't have anything else. I used to run VHO actinics to lengthen the viewing time but replaced with ReefBrite LEDs and really like them. Helps the colors pop but not absolutely necessary. Of course saving 200w switching from VHO to LEDs was nice.:bounce3:
 
I run 2 400w 20kK Radiums on my 24" tall 100g with 2 54w blue T5s. I think 2 400s in Lumen Brights on your 30" tall tank without vho or ho supplements would keep sps thriving and looking good. I also think that some blue supplements would make 'em pop even more.
 
It also depends on the ballast you're going to run. PAR with Radium bulbs on different ballasts is all over the place in PAR readings. I have my 400 watt Radiums on Galaxy ballasts and I can tell you it's very, very bright.

Also, do a couple of searches on the Lumenbrite reflectors. You'll find that most people are hanging them at least 16 inches off the water. They give a spotlight effect when hung lower than that. Also, because of the efficiency of the reflector, a better spread, with excellent, and evenly dispersed PAR numbers is achieved at a higher mounting height.

Try here...very informative.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1567241&highlight=lumenbrite
 
Absolutely. I run just one 400w radium over my 28*28*32 deep tank and get good growth and great colors, with no supplemental t5 or vho lights.
 
Alex T. said:
Also, do a couple of searches on the Lumenbrite reflectors. You'll find that most people are hanging them at least 16 inches off the water. They give a spotlight effect when hung lower than that. Also, because of the efficiency of the reflector, a better spread, with excellent, and evenly dispersed PAR numbers is achieved at a higher mounting height.

Try here...very informative.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1567241&highlight=lumenbrite
Click to expand...

Are you speaking from experence or just repeating what you have read?
I have them and have been running the 12in off the water for 8 months now. And there is no spotlight effect at all.
 
I also use the 250/400 watt Lumatek ballasts with 3 radium 250 watts bulbs in lumen bright reflectors. I do not use any other light and I love it. Great color.

Joe
 
Are you speaking from experence or just repeating what you have read?
I have them and have been running the 12in off the water for 8 months now. And there is no spotlight effect at all.
Click to expand...

Buybaff, don't take it personally. Someone local that I trade frags with has them and experienced the spotlight affect when they were at 12 inches. Maybe you're running actinics and can't see the halide spread. When they were raised to the 16 inches that (MANY) have recommended and listed par figures and light spread information in detail, the spotlight went away. They're great reflectors and I'm actually in a deal to purchase some used ones by Christmas.

So, I guess you can say I'm speaking from what I've SEEN many times and READ quite extensively about. I'm not knocking your reflectors. Quite the contrary. This topic has been discussed in detail in the thread I provided and the evidence is right there to see, and I have with my own eyes experienced this for myself.
 
Not takeing it personal man lol. Just wanted to know your personal experence. I to read all the threads before I got mine. And I don't have the option to go any higher than 12in so that's where mine are. And there is absolutely no spotlight effect on my tank. My tank is only 4ft and 28in deep so maybe that's why I don't see it.
 
One thing I noticed with my buddy's tank is that the par evened out throughout the middle of the tank height with an apogee meter, which is awesome with these reflectors because you can have light loving acropora two feet away from the center of the reflector at the higher mounting height. I actually e-mailed Mike Leonard (Acroporanut on RC) about his pioneering height experiments and he noticed that even with five 400 watt halides on his tank at 16 inches off the water that he had better growth rates and the need for a chiller no longer existed. He now runs only halides with no supplemental lighting at all.

I think anyone using these reflectors would need a lot of acclimation time compared to anything else they've ever used. They really punch the light deep into the tank and what's more, 10k bulbs could probably do some serious damage to corals with these reflectors.

Just my .02
 
There are 3 types of Lumen Bright Reflectors. Mini, Wide, and Large. Maybe the one that has a focus beam is from the Mini reflectors. The mini has a coverage of about 24"x24" while the wide and the large has coverage of about 30"x30".
 
My Tank with 2x400w upgrade.
picture.php
 
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